A randomised controlled study of face-to-face versus internet-based teaching of CBT skills for healthcare professionals in Sudan

BACKGROUND: A need has been identified for affordable and scalable methods for disseminating cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) to countries with barriers to traditional methods of teaching. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the effectiveness of internet-based teaching versus face-to-face teaching in improving the CBT theory, assessment, and formulation skills of a group of mental health practitioners in Khartoum, Sudan. METHOD: Participants (N = 36) were randomly assigned to (a) a 3 h live lecture, or (b) a computer-based multimedia recorded lecture of the same duration. Participants were rated before and after training for their ability to assess a simulated patient and construct a CBT formulation of the presenting difficulties. Participants also rated the feasibility and acceptability of the training they had received. RESULTS: Both teaching methods resulted in significant improvements in participants’ abilities to carry out the assessment and formulation tasks. However, participants allocated to computer-based teaching performed better than those allocated to live teaching (between-groups effect size d = 0.26–0.74). Both teaching methods were rated as highly acceptable and feasible by participants. CONCLUSIONS: Computer-based teaching could offer a cheaper and effective method to help disseminate CBT to countries with limited resources and expertise, replacing and supplementing other costly traditional methods such as face-to-face teaching.